The present invention relates to an improved apparatus for massaging the human body.
Various massaging techniques are used as a function of the treatments to be undergone. The massaging operations generally involve subjecting the patient to stresses such as pressure, and/or displacements and/or pinchings.
Various types of equipment have been proposed up to the present time to facilitate the masseur's work. In general, such equipment exert on the body an action of pressure, of displacement, of friction by vibrations, but in no case do they make it possible to obtain the combined stresses involved in the so-called "rolled palpation" massaging technique used in particular in the case of treatment of cutaneous, cellulitic and dermalgic zones. The "rolled palpation" technique involves subjecting the patient to a continuous action during which the masseur must effect, simultaneously, not only a localized pinching, but also a progressive displacement of the pinched zone, so as to provoke a "roll" while at the same time exerting pressure.
French Pat. No. FR-A-2 057 514 has already proposed an apparatus, which, to a certain extent, could have enabled such a type of "rolled palpation" massage to be carried out.
The apparatus described in No. FR-A-2057514 generally comprises, mounted inside a manually operated housing, two parallel rollers driven in rotation by a motor and which are subjected to the action of return springs tending to apply them against each other. Furthermore, a source of suction opens out inside the housing.
An apparatus of this type presents numerous drawbacks following from its design. In fact, according to this document, the two rollers are subjected to the action of springs which tend to apply them against each other and it is the fold of the skin which tends to space the rollers apart. In practice, such a solution is not feasible, since it is not possible to regulate the pinching action exerted by the rollers and that, in order to form the fold of the skin causing spacing apart of the rollers, a considerable vacuum would be necessary, which may traumatize the skin.
Furthermore, the efficiency of such an apparatus appears more than doubtful, being given that suction is exerted freely and at random within the housing, not only between the rollers but also laterally.
Consequently, at the present time, massage treatments in accordance with the "rolled palpation" technique are always carried out by hand, which not only is tiring for the masseur but also does not enable regular treatment to be obtained, since the stresses exerted depend not only on the person carrying out massage, but also on how tired he/she is.